'Predator' News: Shane Black is Making an "Inventive Sequel," Not a Reboot

Yesterday word broke that Shane Black, who starred in the franchise's first entry, would be directing a reboot of 'Predator.' But when reached for comment, Black clarified that he would not reboot, but is plotting an "inventive sequel." Could Arnold Schwarzenegger return?

Black didn't answer that question definitively, but told Collider "Why start over, when you’ve all this rich mythology yet to mine?” Black mentioned “inventive sequels” as he wants to be “expanding and exploring the existing Predator mythology, rather than hitting the restart button.”

What that means is anyone's guess. There are currently five movies that feature the 'Predator' aliens, though we assume there will be no alien-predator hybrid as there was at the end of 'Alien Vs. Predator,' and it's possible that Black and screenwriter Fred Dekker will also completely ignore 'Predator 2' and 'Predators.' What this suggests is that we could see an earth with an awareness of these creatures, and we could conceivably see the return of Arnold Schwarzenegger's Dutch or Elpidia Carrillo's Anna from the first film.

That said, Schwarzenegger hasn't exactly been lighting the box office on fire lately (his comeback vehicles 'The Last Stand' and 'Sabotage' both tanked hard), so we'd guess that eliminates his return. But what it also means is that -- as has been the case with many of the first film's follow ups -- this will have no interest in following the original's narrative, though considering the predatory nature of the antagonist, it may be impossible to ignore the 'And Then There Were None' structure.